My talk will take place on Saturday, October 27th at 11:00am ,so make sure you put it in your schedule so that you can avoid it. This will be my third visit to the Expo, and I've always enjoyed it, though there is a first time for everything, so who's to say this visit won't resemble something out of my worst nightmare? (My worst nightmare, incidentally, is having to ride a stationary trainer while listening to Chris Carmichael read aloud from his book, "The Time-Crunched Cyclist.")

In any case, I hope to see you there.

Also, remember yesterday when I said I was going to increase my product coverage? No? Well, perhaps you're taking too much of the "pot." Either way, are you looking for some handlebar tape with which to tape up the handlebar controls of your two-wheeled bicycle cycling bike machine? Well, why not try this stuff, which a reader tells me is actually endorsed by the time-traveling t-shirt-wearing retro-Fred from the planet TridorkBret:

Here's the "low down:"

Made with cutting-edge technologies from the finest materials, Velo’s innovative wrap series offers soft and highly durable handle bar tapes for every cycling preference. Advanced materials enhanced by patented technologies give cyclists superior control and the highest level of riding comfort.wrap tapes help you conquer any terrain with confidence.

Now, I'm a fickle consumer, so all of this raises a couple of questions. Firstly, if the tape is so awesome then why isn't Bret even holding it? Secondly, if you look closely, it appears that Bret's bars are wrapped with electrical tape--which, while frugal, is not exactly "cutting-edge" technology. Are we to infer that Bret prefers electrical tape to this Velo stuff? Then again, maybe this is a stroke of marketing genius, and the insinuation is that Velo tape is so grippy that all you need to do is gently rest your forearms on it and you'll form an unbreakable bond with your bicycle.

Here's the story:Light-weight 19lbs, single speed- 19th Century style bicycle, exceptionally stiff frame; hemp fabric composite lugs which are both internally and externally butted for maximum strength; components include Shimano Tiagra brake calipers; Tipo Uno leather saddle--19th Century style. non-adjustable seat tower for 32 inch inseam. frame is 56 cm; features Generation 8 single-speed crankset. Rims are 700 x 23CThis bicycle is exceptionally fast and the frame damps all road vibration, like riding on a cloud. It is a modern interpretation of the classic 19th Century 1898 Oak framed Chillion built by J.D. Stebbins. Hand crafted with the same attention as the original, there are 350 hours in the construction of the frame. Adorning the headtube is a pure copper red oak leaf and acorn headstamp. It's a head-turner and built to be ridden hard. The original oak frame track bike still holds the indoor Velo Drome record for wooden bikes.The frame is finished in Swedish Tonqinoise denatured linseed maritime varnish and hand-rubbed to a golden luster. This work of art is proof that 19th Century technology is still viable and competitive today.$4000 OBOMore detailed pictures will be posted soon.

Yes, it certainly is exquisite. Nice parts selection, too. Basically, it's like a Bikesdirect.com bike, only flammable. Also, it's finished in "Swedish Tonqinoise denatured linseed maritime varnish and hand-rubbed to a golden luster," which is funny because I was making the universal sign for "hand-rubbing" the entire time I was reading the ad.

Of course, if you prefer the dull sheen of titanium to the hand-rubbed golden luster of Swedish Tonquinoise denatured linseed maritime varnish--and you're prepared to spend an extra sixteen hundred bucks--you can always skip the wood bike and go for The Budnitz. Indeed, a few weeks back, Old Man Budnitz himself articulated his philosophy on "bikeen" in a blog post entitled "Nostalgia Is Death" that has received a bit of attention. It starts with Old Man Budnitz establishing his "street cred:"

During the 1980’s and 1990’s city cycling was primarily a kind of rebel subculture, something practiced by bike messengers, Chinese food delivery men, and a few lunatics like myself who rode because it was fast, fun, and dangerous.

I wonder he's talking about cycling in Berkley, where he grew up, or in Boulder, where he lives now. Was there ever a time in either place where cycling was any edgier than wheat germ or yoga?

Then, he tells us about his old Bottechia:

From 1989 through 2005 I owned an orange and chrome 1967 Bottechia steel road bike I’d bought for $100 at a flea market in Southern California.

I was stunned to learn he managed to ride this bike for 16 years, despite the fact that it wasn't titanium and cost him less than $5,600--which, as I understood from his marketing copy, were the minimum requirements for a durable bicycle.

Anyway, even though Old Man Budnitz was somehow one of the first people ever to ride a bike in New York City, he doesn't much care for the attitude of his fellow "pioneers:"

One of the other things I’ve noticed is that some of the original cyclists, the same pioneers who were riding single speeds to punk shows long before Manhattan had its first bike path, have begun to feel angry and left out.

I went to my share of punk shows in New York City as a teenager and I don't recall anybody riding singlespeeds to them. Actually, I don't really recall many people riding bicycles to punk shows at all. I'm pretty sure those single-speed "bike piles" outside of clubs and bars came after the bike lanes.

Even so, these fictional "pioneers" clearly lack the integrity of Old Man Budnitz:

Unfortunately, when something alternative becomes popular, innovators who are unable to muster the energy to move on instead hold on to the past, and do everything they can to attack those who they perceive are involved in the new wave. This always strikes me as sad and ironic, and a little pathetic.

Actually, not everybody does that. Some people just fabricate a false history of themselves and then try to sell the "new wave" city bikes that cost $5,600. This is hardly surprising, since Old Man Budnitz's most impressive quality is his audacity:

Any bicycle that is loved is worth praising, whether it’s a $150 upright Columbia picked up at flea market, a fixie put together with parts from a dumpster, or a high-end model like the ones made by companies like Beloved, Budnitz, Rivendell, Vanilla, and other independent manufacturers. Like a classic car, bicycles deserve the respect that high-end manufacturing and design brings. Also like cars, this doesn’t diminish the value of the bicycle that you bought at a flea market, and that you deeply love.

Also, given that they come out of the Chris King factory, I'm guessing the people involved in building and marketing them know how to properly install a wheel.

After returning that titanium creak machine I had resolved never to speak of Budnitz again, but the sad fact is that I may not sleep comfortably until Budnitz stops selling bicycles altogether and gets back to bedazzling sneakers for the Japanese.

Old Man Budnitz does make one good point though, which is that cycling in New York City has indeed become more accessible, and that is a good thing. One organization that has been instrumental in this transformation is Transportation Alternatives, and recently I received this email from them:

Basically, they wanted me to tell my representatives that I want speeding drivers to get busted:

In an editorial yesterday, The New York Times called on New York State to stop speeding drivers.Their endorsement is great, but it’s not enough to make our campaign heard. Tell your representatives you agree with The New York Times!

The city could cut down on traffic deaths in three ways. It should be given permission by state authorities to install cameras to photograph license plates when drivers are going too fast, since many deaths are caused by speeding vehicles. There were 115 deaths involving drivers or passengers, up from 78 the year before. The remaining 176 killed were cyclists and pedestrians.

So far, so good--and then:

City police should also increase the number of tickets given to drivers and cyclists who disobey traffic laws, like speeding, running red lights or making illegal turns.

What? "And cyclists?!?" I don't want cyclists to get more tickets! Sure, plenty of us are idiots, but we're getting enough tickets as it is! Meanwhile, I can't walk the few blocks to the playground with my 17 kids without at least five drivers breaking the law in some egregious way that could easily make all of us die.

This is not to say some cyclists don't deserve tickets. For example, many people are outraged over this story, but I'm not:

Basically, the guy ran a bunch of lights on his bike and got a bunch of tickets, pleaded guilty to them without even reading them, and then was shocked to discover what he owed:

I was guilty for sure of going through the lights and wearing headphones so naively I pleaded guilty and sent in the tickets. A few weeks later I got a letter in the mail, it contained my 4 tickets stapled to a piece of paper that indicated I owed $1555. It didn't itemize the cost of each ticket so I have no idea what each one is worth.

I realize the police do tend to treat cyclists unfairly, but if you plead guilty to a ticket without even taking the time to figure out how much you owe in fines then that means only one thing:

Especially if you don't have much money to begin with:

"This is my first bike infraction in New York City," the cyclist says. "$1,500 seems pretty excessive, especially for a 24-year-old where $1,500 is a little less than 10% of my yearly income."

If you make $15,000 a year and you don't even bother to read a traffic ticket before sending it in you deserve to be broke. I wonder if he also shops for clothes at Barney's, plunks down his credit card, and then says it's unfair when he gets a $3,000 bill in the mail a month later. Still, as cloying as Brookyn has become, it's comforting to know that the city still has enough teeth left to chew people up and then spit them out.

Let's see, "Fred" would never speed or violate any other traffic laws while driving his Beem'r, and would always ride his carbon fiber speed bike like a saint. Come on, stick shifts and spandex will push any OCD nutcase over the edge.

Aww, I wish you'd have torn apart the wooden bike ad a little more. What about the non-adjustable seat post? Or the fact that it's in Ashland, OR (which if you can imagine, is even more precious & smug than Portland). And who the hell is JD Stebbins?

"Also, it's finished in "Swedish Tonqinoise denatured linseed maritime varnish and hand-rubbed to a golden luster," which is funny because I was making the universal sign for "hand-rubbing" the entire time I was reading the ad."

"After returning that titanium creak machine I had resolved never to speak of Budnitz again, but the sad fact is that I may not sleep comfortably until Budnitz stops selling bicycles altogether and gets back to bedazzling sneakers for the Japanese."

Ouch. Dude, remind me never to piss you off. You're kinda nasty when you turn off the mock.

Man, you really cherry-picked from the Budnitz blog post. I can't believe you glossed over his mention of the "art-toy movement that I was heavily involved in." This alone gives him all the credentials he needs to make expensive crap!

I suggest you read further about all the stuff (art toys included) he's curated up: http://www.kidrobot.com/AboutPaulBudnitz.html

Sample: "People would ask, 'are they art or are they toys?', and I'd say, 'Both, and selling them is part of the artwork too.'"

I like when budnitz claims responsibility for the resurgence of cycling in America. How did he do that exactly? by starting making bikes like a year ago that no one can afford? Well done mr budnitz, and thank you for the internet as well. what a dick.

$1,555 of tickets is harsh, particularly when the cop probably followed the guy through three lights just to jack up the fine when he could have stopped him after the first one. yes he should have figured out the fine before pleading guilty but he was just being honest and $1,555 is egregious. The fine for DUI in NYC is less than this ($500-$1000 for first offense). I get the sarcasm, but WTF!

Yikes... thanks for reminding me, snobbers. My court date should be coming up soon. $168 for the privilege of disobeying a red light. I stopped before I disobeyed, and there was no one around, except for the motorcycle cop hiding behind a tree...

Sigh. I guess I'll just thank my lucky stars that he stopped me after the first red light, shall I?

Why would a manufacturer use a stock photo for a product specific image (c)wrap TM tape? Nothing in the ad copy even comes close to describing what makes the product better. What a waste of time. Its like they trademarked the name, got a domain name, and then tried to come up with a product that fits. Sweet sainted mother of Budnitz.

I'm pleased you spotted that line in the NYT's editorial about ticketing cyclists too. I've commented on several fora that it just doesn't make sense. Cyclists already get about 5 per cent of New York's traffic tickets - and they're way less than 5 per cent of traffic - but, of the 291 people who died in traffic accidents in New York to the end of June, precisely none of them died after being hit by a bike. So they're saying there should be more tickets for the people who aren't killing people. I think cyclists should obey the road rules, as I do, but to suggest the police should be coming down harder on cyclists is just nuts.The NYT editorial was wise in some other ways, however, since it closely reflected some of the arguments I'd made in a blogpost about the philosophy behind traffic policing in NYC. My version, for what it's worth, is here: http://invisiblevisibleman.blogspot.com/2012/10/do-as-you-like-motorists-and-dont-blame.html

For over 3 years I have dedicated my life to blog post commenting. I have always been determined to compete at the highest level, in one of the most physically demanding sports. With hard work and success have come great blessings from the sport I love.

Teammates have become dear friends and I have worked hard to earn the respect of my competitors. I have been associated with bloggers and readers whose professionalism is unparalleled. Wonderful fans have supported my family and me since I began this great journey. For all of this and more, I am truly grateful and proud.

Because of my love for this blog, the contributions I feel I have made to it, and the amount the sport of blog commenting has given to me over the years, it is extremely difficult today to acknowledge that during a part of my career I used banned substances. Early in my semi-professional career, it became clear to me that, given the widespread use of performance enhancing drugs by commentors at the top of the profession, it was not possible to compete at the highest level without them. I deeply regret that choice and sincerely apologize to my family, teammates and fans.

Quietly, and in the way I know best, I have been trying to rectify that decision. I have commented clean and have not used any performance enhancing drugs or processes (aerodynamic advantage from the recumbent position nonwithstanding) for the past one years. Since 2011, I have been working hard within the sport of blog commenting to rid it of banned substances. During this time, I continued to successfully compete at the highest level of blog commenting while mentoring young semi-professional commentors on the right choices to make to ensure that the culture of blog commenting had changed.

About six months ago, I was approached by US Federal investigators, and more recently by USADA, and Adsense and asked to tell of my personal experience in these matters. I would have been much more comfortable talking only about myself, but understood that I was obligated to tell the truth about everything I knew. So that is what I did.

blog commenting has made remarkable gains over the past several years and can serve as a good example for other sports. Thankfully, the use of performance enhancing drugs is no longer embedded in the culture of our sport, and younger commentors are not faced with the same choice we had.

I am proud to be part of the blog commenting community, and believe we continue to make positive changes to our sport. I applaud the extraordinary achievements of my fellow commentors on and off the keyboard. Commenting is an incredible sport that not only requires unbelievable physical ability to hit the refresh button hundreds of times a day for many days on end; it also requires a certain type of dedication, ambition and character. I have been fortunate to compete with teammates whose commitment and talent will be hard to match. As a commentor I have dedicated a large part of my career to helping those teammates succeed. As I begin the next chapter in my commenting life, I look forward to playing a significant part in developing, encouraging and helping young commentors to compete and win with the best in the world.

Your assessment that riding in Berkeley is cream puff is spot on. Oddly though, as a 35 year cyclist who has ridden in many different cities and countries, in the single year I've lived near Berkeley, I've been involved in more angry confrontations there than anywhere in the 34 previous years combined. I don't get it either, but my numbers don't lie.

As for numbers that do lie: yes, when the vast majority of all cars speed the vast majority of cars in accidents will have been speeding.

What did you do with Ann? Wasn't she a 'working breed', with all that experience? Or did she finally admit to the drugs like everyone else today? We in 'the family' had long suspected it, I mean look at her expressions, zombie-ville!RCT: you were much more concise on the stuff, please reconsider. Babs, sorry about your 'infraction' by sneaky pig, cops r dicks to bike cyclists, but you never see those unmuffled Harley guys getting stopped, cops r scared of them and pick on easy prey. Jim Romney

@babble on 1:48pm: Were you riding a bicycle or driving a car when this happened? If a bike, where was this? If a car, will you cry me a river?

@Invisible Man 2:00pm: Could you please cite a good source for the stat that cyclists get about 5 percent of N.Y.'s traffic tickets? Believing bad things about the NYPD is very much in my comfort zone, but I have a hard time buying that. If you can back it up, you have my thanks.

@anon 3:14pm: Do you realize that just because correlation doesn't imply causation, it certainly doesn't disprove it either? Anybody who wants to drive more safely can immediately achieve it by driving at or (within reason) below the speed limit. Slower drivers will have fewer accidents, and those that occur will be less destructive.

RCT: I applaud your hypocrisy, erm, I mean honesty. And anon @3:41's right. You were good on the dope, man. Really.

Leroy, honey, didntcha know? Vodka is much more than a breakfast drink.

Dave: Bike. Definitely a bike, in Vancouver on first and Burrard, 7:40 am Friday the 23rd of December, 2011.

And yeah, you're right. It's much easier to ticket me than it is to tackle the nasty, mean and aggressive bus drivers who insist on screaming through stale yellow lights in all kinds of traffic, laying on the horn, and actually killing people.

cycle @2:11You mean one of those places where a handful of us bike nerds hang out with people who turn out to be FBI agents? They've probably already got traces on Babble and McFly, and slipped cameras into Snob's place every time he leaves town. "Philadelphia, eh? Cool. Time to wire another room and see where he keeps this Recumbabe stashed."

David G,I was referring to this Transportation Nation report - http://transportationnation.org/2012/02/15/nypd-issued-almost-50000-bicycle-tickets-in-2011/ - which I also used in preparing my blog. Of the 1m tickets the NYPD issued in 2011, 50,000 were to cyclists - and just 25,000 to trucks. Which, when one thinks about how a lot of trucks are driven, and how many people they kill each year, is a pretty damning statistic.

I'll be fine, thanks. He told me when he ticketed me that the day we go to court he will pull up my license (yes, this little infraction shows up on my driver`s manifest)and, in his words "if you haven't received another ticket as a cyclist disobeying a red, then I won't prosecute you."

So far so good, anyway. And even if I had been stopped again, I would argue that we need our own version of the Idaho stop law. What I was doing wasn't posing a danger to myself or others, and so I shouldn't be subject to a fine. :)

NYC Bikers: Flood the system with not-guilty pleas. They are written to the operator of a motor vehicle, and you'll get "points on your license" if you do plead guilty. All of this is BS, and not legal---so plead not guilty. My hearing is in April! I'll let y'all know how my brunch with justice goes.

Thank you for the reply; I will check out the link. If the statistic is valid, it is shocking, and will serve me right for doubting something about the NYPD just because it sounded incomprehensibly bad.

some guy came by my shop the other day to show off the budnitz. i think he was doing some marketing for them. i rode it and sure enough the thing creaked like crazy. the brakes squealed too. the handlebars were wide cruiser bars made of titanium, which made the whole bike feel very flexy, but i suppose that might not be a bad thing depending on your preference.

When I flooded the system with my guilty plea last year during our little ticket blitz, the cop obviously didn't remember almost all details of my case and kept calling my bike an 'automobile' then correcting himself. I was found guilty and my $275 ticket was reduced to $190.

Hope your brunch with justice goes a little better.

babbles, you too, though I'm sure Canuckistan justice is probably a little gentler than here in Bloombergistan.

What an epic statement by Big Bent Conspiracy! With such a mastery of spin and history of questionable integrity at least he can count on kindred spirit Spinergy wheels to stand fast as proud sponsors.

FYI: Electrical tape is the only bar tape suitable for insulating the rider from the immense build up of static charge which occurs during ITT (Inter-dimensional Time Travel).

When Steve Tilford gets all excited about something and starts blogging he makes alot of grammatical errors and sounds eerily like the troll advertisers on this blog. It tense get turning on the around times some.

I'm confused. How do you have the calorie intake to stand up, much less ride a bike, if you live in NYC on $15,000 a year?

As far as bikesdirect goes, I bought a $350 mountain bike from them recently, and I'm enjoying it. Greatest bike ever? No. It's not even my best mountain bike. A great bike for the price? Hell yes. Better than the $600 Cannondale I bought? Easily.

You seem to be mad at Budnitz for being overpriced and cynical. I get that, but making snide comments (2nd one in a week or two by my count) about a company that makes its living on providing bikes that are a good value proposition instead of trading on brand snobbery in the same post is a bit bipolar.

If you live in an urban center, small town or village, or even large city, a scooter can be an economical way of getting to the grocery store or your place of employment at a fraction of the cost that a normal vehicle offers.

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About Me

While I love cycling and embrace it in all its forms, I'm also extremely critical. So I present to you my venting for your amusement and betterment. No offense meant to the critiqued. Always keep riding!